Disclaimer: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and Angel are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and the WB. Not mine, please don't sue.

Chapter 6: Things Fall Apart

Dawn leaned back on the hood of Connor's jeep, her head resting against the windshield. She and Connor had graduated from dancing in the headlights, to sitting on the jeep and talking about their childhoods. Connor was up front about his time in Quor-toth, and Dawn was relieved that he would talk with her about it. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, where he lay next to her on the hood.

"So after you and Angel came back into town, what did Spike do?" Dawn asked Connor. He was helping her fill in some of the missing blanks she supposedly had.

"He split, pretty much. I know that he and Dad have this love-hate relationship, and he couldn't handle it when Dad and Buffy got back together." Connor answered her.

"Do you know where he is now?" Dawn stared up at the night sky.

"No. Buffy said one of her contacts mentioned something about him heading to Africa, but that was awhile ago." Connor told her. There was small spark of hope then, that he would still be the same Spike she knew. At the very least, he would have a soul. Another thought hit her, and she almost fell off the jeep. Buffy and Spike had never slept together. He'd never tried to rape her sister. Dawn was so distracted by her train of thought that it took her a minute to realize that Connor had asked her a question and was now patiently waiting for her reply. Dawn blushed.

"I'm sorry, what?" She said, clearly embarrassed.

"You okay?" He wanted to know. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just distracted." Dawn told him. "What did you ask?"

"I wanted to know if you and Spike were close." Connor repeated. Spike was not someone they talked about at home, mostly because his Dad couldn't stand to hear that the platinum blonde vamp had been in love with his wife.

"We were, the year Mom died." Dawn answered, sounding wistful. "He was with me when I found out what I am."

"That was the year that you..." Connor began

"Yeah. That night with Glory on the tower." Dawn was quiet. They were silent, letting the night air wash over them.

*

Buffy paced worriedly, her friends watching as she made lap after lap around the room.

"I'm sure she's fine, Buffy." Xander tried to comfort his friend. He squeezed Anya's hand for support. The tiny blonde wasn't having any of it.

"She should've been home by now. Connor too." Buffy told her friends, arms wrapped protectively around her pregnant belly. "It's not just Dawn I'm worried about."

"Connor's pretty powerful. He can protect her." Lindsey pointed out, putting an arm around Willow.

"I need to do something." Buffy wrung her hands. "I can't just sit here."

"Buffy, you know you can't." Willow said, her voice soft. Tears welled in Buffy's eyes.

"I know, Will. I just feel so helpless." Buffy replied.

"We'll find them, Buffy, I promise." Angel said, coming in from the kitchen, his black trench coat swirling around him as he slipped in on. The three men said good-bye to their respective girls with kisses, and then headed out the door. Anya and Willow moved to stand next to Buffy as they watched them go.

*

The night wind blew, and Dawn's hair rippled across her face. Connor, who was lying so that he faced her, was entranced. He reached out, and captured the offending lock between his fingers, his eyes meeting hers.

"Today, when we...kissed...tell me you felt it too." Connor whispered, his gaze intense. Somehow, Dawn found her voice.

"You know I did." Dawn managed to answer.

"If I tell you something, you promise not to freak out on me?" Connor asked. She smiled.

"Nothing you say could make me do that." Dawn replied. Unless, of course, he was going to tell her he had suddenly developed feeling for Kirstie.

That would cause her to freak out all right.

"I think I've been in love with you since the day we met." Connor admitted. Dawn inhaled, but after that she seemed to forget how to breathe. Her mouth was parted in shock, her eye wide as she stared up at him. Survival instinct kicked in, and Dawn let out a noisy wheeze. Concerned, Connor stroked her cheek. "Well, say something." He urged. Please, dear God, be gentle.

"You love me?" She repeated, still coming to terms with it. Sure, in the other time line, Connor had declared his love. Here, things were different, and she was having a hard time realizing that changing the time line had not changed his feelings for her. "Oh, Goddess, Connor."

"Is that bad or good?" Connor tried to joke. He was getting a little worried. Granted, she was shocked, and hell, so was he, but he was now hoping he hadn't been wrong about trusting her. What if things went back to the way they were before Dawn had lost part of her memories?

"It's good. It's very good." Dawn said, smiling. She leaned up a little, and kissed him. "I love you too." She told him.

"Aw, isn't this cute?" Xander spoke up. The two teens looked up to see Angel, Xander and Lindsey standing near the jeep, angry expressions on their faces. Dawn visibly gulped, and Connor couldn't separate himself from Dawn fast enough.

"Uh, Dad. I can explain..." Connor began.

*

"I just don't know how the two of you could be so irresponsible!" Buffy cried out. Dawn and Connor both seemed to visibly shrink into the couch. Even though she was pregnant, Buffy was still pretty formidable.

"Buffy, calm down. It was nothing." Dawn tried to stop her sister's tirade.

"It was not 'nothing', Dawn." Buffy's tone was not pleasant. "You and Connor were out until late, doing God knows what up at Lookout Point!" The blonde shouted. "I'd say that's pretty far from nothing."

"I had Connor to protect me." Dawn replied, hoping that reminder would sway her sister somewhat. Nope, no such luck.

"I realize that Connor's pretty good in a fight, but from what I've been told, you two weren't exactly prepared for a sneak attack." Buffy pointed out. Dawn gulped. Crap, she was going to get a speech about the birds and the bees.

"You did the same thing when you were my age, and more, if I recall." Dawn's jibe hit home with Angel, who flinched. Buffy's mouth dropped open.

"That was a different time. I was supposed to be out late at night, patrolling the cemeteries." Buffy defended.

"And making out with your vampire boyfriend?" Dawn slyly interjected.

"It's not the same thing, and you know it." Buffy was close to exploding at this point. Angel laid a comforting hand on her arm.

"Maybe not, but I am your sister, and Connor is Angel's son. What makes you think we'd be any different?" Dawn's response was quiet. Buffy couldn't think up a reply, but there was no time, because Connor spoke instead.

"You aren't going to keep us from being together, are you?" Connor wanted to know. Buffy and Angel shared a look.

"Connor, you and Dawn are family. We can't keep you apart." Angel tried to reassure him.

"You know that's not what I meant, Dad." Connor said, reaching over and taking Dawn's hand in his.

"How did I miss this?" Buffy lamented, staring at her stepson holding her sister's hand. "Three days ago, you two wanted nothing to do with each other." The teens both shrugged in reply, but before anyone else could say anything, Buffy cried out and clutched her stomach.

*

Dread spread through Dawn like a disease as she stared at the squeaky clean hospital floor. She hated hospitals. Bad things happened to people here. She sighed, pushing her hair away from her face.

Connor's hand rested gently on Dawn's back. He got it, without her ever having to say a word. He knew what losing Buffy would do to her. What losing the baby would do to his father. Angel would not be able to handle the loss of another child. Guilt washed over him in waves. This was his fault. If Buffy lost her baby, his little brother or sister, then he would never be able to forgive himself. He glanced at his dad.

Angel hadn't moved since he'd made two rapid fire phone calls to Willow and Xander. He was almost stone like, for it was almost impossible to tell if he was breathing. None of them had really said anything since they'd sat down, and Angel was glad that neither Dawn nor Connor had tried to speak to him. His mind traveled back to the last time he'd been in this hospital, in this waiting room.

"Please, someone help!"

Angel winced as the memory hit him full force.

Buffy's lifeless form draped in his arms, with blood running in two small streaks down the side of her neck. Her eyes, normally full of spark, were dim.

He shook his head, trying to dislodge the memory. It didn't do to dwell on things he couldn't change.

Xander, Willow, Anya and Lindsey arrived in a flurry of movement. They came to a halt in front of Dawn, Connor and Angel, who stood up.

"How's Buffy?" Willow gasped out, before anyone could say anything.

"They haven't told us anything." Connor answered when it was clear that Dawn and Angel weren't going to. Willow hugged Dawn, and then Angel. Xander settled for a very manly handshake with Angel, and hug for Dawn as well. Anya and Lindsey hung back. It was Lindsey's first actual crisis as a Scooby, and he wasn't quite sure how to behave. Anya had recently discovered that things tended to go better in situations like this if she was quiet, so she said nothing as she sat down next to Xander.

A doctor appeared, clothed in a trademark lab coat. He stopped before their group. Dawn felt her stomach drop. Call it intuition, call is psychic ability, call it whatever the bloody hell you wanted to call it, but she knew there was no way this was going to go well. Something was wrong with Buffy or the baby, or both. Her hand gripped Connor's as the doctor opened his mouth.

"Mr. Angel, I'm afraid the news isn't good." The doctor began. Dawn didn't stick around to hear any more than that. Her body grew a mind of its own, and before she knew it she was running. To where, she had no idea, as long as it was far away from the hospital, with it's too clean smell and bad memories.

Dawn wasn't sure how long she'd been running before she felt compelled to stop. Lack of oxygen and the intense grief weighing on her chest caused her to see stars. She doubled over, trying to catch her breath when she heard a voice call her name.

"Dawn!" Connor called, his tone worried. Tears came to her eyes, but Dawn fought them back. No, she couldn't deal with this right now. She started to run again, but this time her footsteps made noise on the pavement, and Connor heard them. "Dawn?" He called again. He caught sight of something fleeing in the shadows, and took off after it.

Dawn ran as fast as she knew how. The sound of her feet pounding the pavement rang in her ears, her gasps for air nearly in sync with the sound of blood rushing past her ears. She leapt over a small stone wall, into one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries. She was so distraught, and intent on getting away from Connor that she didn't even register where she was going. It wasn't until she reached her destination that she realized where she was.

Connor came up behind her as she stopped suddenly. He watched as she stared at the crypt in front of her. Her chest was heaving, her cheeks wet with tears shed during her frantic run. She'd never looked more beautiful to him than in that moment of vulnerability. He didn't speak, waiting for her to make the first move.

Move she did. In one sudden motion, Dawn summoned all her strength and kicked the door to the crypt open. This action startled the two vamps inside, and Connor swore under his breath. Fabulous. Dawn looked at them, a slightly sheepish expression on her face.

"Oops."